Bad Option

Only a year ago, the Washington gossip was that Thomas Reed, the Special
Assistant to the President, would go on to bigger things. A former
Secretary of the Air Force under Presidents Ford and Carter, a longtime
associate of President Reagan's and a consultant to the National
Security Council staff, Reed was thought to have had a good shot at a
number of high-level openings down the road. No longer. Reed's troubles go
back to 1981, when he made an investment of $3,000 in call options
on shares of stock in the Amax mining company. When...